Michael DeMocker, The Times-PicayuneThe former U.S. Public Service Hospital at 210 State St., in New Orleans, is among several properties in the Louisiana Landmarks Society's list of most endangered historic sites.

The list includes a variety of buildings illustrating the rich heritage of our region, including the old City Park maintenance building, the former U.S. Public Health Service Hospital on State Street, caretaker cottages at several city cemeteries, the Armstrong Danna House on Carondelet Street and Kenner High School in Kenner, among others.

These and other properties on the list are worth saving.

The list highlighted dozens of century-old houses that were moved to make way for the new Veterans Affairs Medical Center and University Medical Center complexes in Mid-City. Many residents celebrated when officials agreed to relocate these homes instead of demolishing them.

Some of the 84 relocated properties were put on a track toward rehabilitation. But dozens of them are still sitting without roofs and exposed to the weather two years after they were moved. That's disappointing. As the landmark society said, the house-relocation effort could become a national model for saving historic homes and using them to replenish historic neighborhoods.

The list included a 19th century corner store at 1201 Baronne St., in Central City. The house, labeled a local landmark in 2004, was sold at a tax sale and renovated. But the society said a subsequent change in state law may possibly allow the original owner to reclaim the property without reimbursing the person who renovated it. The society is raising concerns that the law makes it very unlikely that historic homes with tax liens will be renovated, and that's something public officials should review.

The list also included 17 French Quarter buildings along Bourbon Street rated as nationally important. The society said careless owners are damaging the buildings and the neighborhood as a whole, and it urged the city and the courts to do a better job making sure that businesses on Bourbon follow local rules.

The landmark society deserves credit for bringing attention to these structures, many of which have survived decades of neglect and the flooding after Hurricane Katrina. It would be a shame not to try to save them now.